There are many names for that feeling that we get. It usually precedes something bad. Some people call it a gut feeling, others a sixth sense. The technical term is intuition.

Humans as a whole depend on their normal senses. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Yes, this will get you by in almost any situation but occasionally something comes up that requires something extra.

As stated earlier, this “extra sensory perception” can mean the difference between life or death or even something as minor as whether or not to by a particular car.

The most common people that will use intuition are those men and women that are police officers, fire fighters, paramedic, and military personnel(basically people that have to make life or death decisions with no time to think it through). If for an unexplained reason, something doesn’t feel right, they will go with what is known as a “gut feeling” or a “hunch”. While these may not be scientific terms, they all refer to the same thing. Intuition.

The question at hand is “should we trust our intuition?” The answer to that is a resounding yes. Beyond the real word proof, that is, the countless firefighters, policemen, and military personnel, there is also scientific backing to this.

The human brain is separated into several lobes. We are just now learning to map what each part of the brain actually does. Truth be told, we are not even sure what large portions of the brain do. What if it is one of these lobes that causes us to have the intuition?

The brain takes in all the stimuli of the environment and helps us make a decision. It may be on a subconscious level (or even a semi subconscious level) and we are just getting small tidbits of it. The brain is one of the most complex computers that has ever been created. As humans, we may not be able to assimilate all the information that the brain gathers. By using intuition, we are getting a very small portion that our conscious can understand.

Without a doubt we should trust our intuition (or gut feeling, bad feeling, or hunch). We may not be seeing the whole picture with our measly 5 senses. The human brain is collecting, collating, processing, and making decisions in milliseconds. That is less time than it takes us to blink our eye (the average is between 300 and 400 milliseconds for a single blink).

If we trust our laptops, smart phones, and calculators why wouldn’t we trust the most powerful computer ever made? All of the technology we use can process data, but only the data that we give it. Our brains on the other hand are constantly absorbing information from the surrounding environment. Even when we aren’t paying attention, the information is being stored.

It is because of this “storage ability” that we should always trust our gut feelings or intuition. Our brains know more about what is going on than our conscious thoughts show us. The intuition could very well be based on a situation that you were in at a previous time. While you don’t remember it, your “hard drive” does. Basically, your intuition can save you a lot of trouble or even your life. You will be much better off if you trust it. Time and time again, it has proven to be the right thing to do.